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London, 20 February 2014 - The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain's leading forum for television and related media, has announced the winners of the RTS Television Journalism Awards 2012/2013.

The awards, for news and current affairs, recognise creative and excellent journalism by organisations whose broadcasts are received in the UK and by the agencies which supply UK news broadcasters. This year saw journalists, broadcasters and agencies competing in 17 categories for a coveted Royal Television Society Award. In addition there were two awards given at the discretion of the Jury Chairs: the Judges’ and Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The RTS Television Journalism Awards 2012/2013 were chaired by Richard Sambrook, director of the Centre for Journalism at Cardiff University and a former director of Global News at the BBC. The awards ceremony, which was hosted by Sian Williams, took place on Wednesday 19 February at the London Hilton, Park Lane.

Camera Operator of the Year

Darren Conway (DC)BBC News

“A remarkable entry. [DC] is unerring in his ability to take stunning pictures under the most intense pressure. The images were harrowing to watch, but sensitively filmed and essential to document. The winner is, quite simply, the outstanding news cameraman of his generation.”

Nominees:

Raul Gallego AbellanAP Television News

Mark Phillips CNN International

Current Affairs – Home

“… the culmination of a remarkable body of work spanning almost two decades. It required the negotiation of unprecedented behind the scenes access, great sensitivity towards both victims and investigators and unquenchable journalistic perseverance.”

Nominees:

Panorama - Broken By Battle Genie Pictures for BBC One

Panorama - Hillsborough: How They Buried The TruthBBC Panorama for BBC One

Daily News Programme of the Year

“Strong and authoritative journalism, inspired by clever thinking, never dull and delivered with the impish spirit of the naughtiest student in the classroom.”

Nominees

ITV News at Ten ITN for ITV News

Channel 5 News at 5pm ITN for Channel 5 News

Innovative News

Don't Panic: The Truth About PopulationWingspan for BBC Two

“Engaging, compelling and educational, interactive graphics on a massive scale.”

Nominees

TruthloaderITN Productions for YouTube

#Datababy ITN for Channel 4 News

National Presenter of the Year

Mark Austin - ITV News at TenITN for ITV News

“This year has seen our winner demonstrate his professionalism and versatility once again. Always on top of his brief, he is as at home in foreign danger zones as he is in the studio. The report into the death of his colleague, Terry Lloyd, was handled with great skill and sensitivity.”

Nominees

Krishnan Guru-Murthy - Channel 4News ITN for Channel 4 News

Jon Snow - Channel 4 News ITN for Channel 4 News

Nations and Regions Current Affairs and News Event

BBC Scotland Investigates - Sins of Our FathersBBC Scotland

“In an investigative tour de force report, the winner uncovered the shocking story of physical and sexual abuse of boys at one of Scotland's leading Catholic boarding schools. The reporter confronted one of the monks, living in comfortable retirement in Australia, with the allegations against him, and detailed how the Catholic Church had covered up the truth repeatedly.”

Nominees

Live and Let Die UTV Insight

Dale Cregan TrialITV Granada

Nations and Regions News Programme

BBC East Midlands TodayBBC East Midlands

“[This] entry showed real courage in devoting a whole programme to just one subject. It demonstrated an investment in local journalism over many months, and shed new light on the behaviour and motives behind the death of six children in a house fire in Derby.”

Nominees

BBC Newsline BBC Northern Ireland

CalendarITV Yorkshire

News Channel of the Year

CNN International

“The Jury said that both the live coverage and the packaged reporting in the winning entry were superb, offering valuable context to the viewer. The speed of coverage of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines was extremely impressive and the reporting of Nima Elbagir on the Somali border and Nick Paton Walsh in Syria deserve special mention.”

Nominees

Sky News

BBC News Channel BBC News for BBC News Channel

News Coverage - Home

Woolwich AttackITN for ITV News

“This coverage began with a world exclusive and continued to deliver top quality TV journalism from many innovative angles. At the heart of this story were images the audience will remember for ever. Comprehensive, sensitive and challenging.”

Nominees

Online Child Abuse ITN for Channel 5 News

Goodbye Margaret ThatcherITN for Channel 4

News News Coverage - International

CNN Coverage of Typhoon Haiyan CNN International

“In a very strong field, the winning entry had great packages and lives in enormously challenging circumstances capped by extraordinary images right from the very centre of the storm.”

Nominees

The Conflict in SyriaBBC News for BBC One

Syria - DamascusITN for ITV News

Regional Presenter of the Year

Stewart White - BBC Look East – BBC One (East)

“Mixing authority with a lightness of touch, the jury said that the winner was in a class of his own.”

Nominees

Nina Hossain - ITV News LondonITN for ITV London

Alex Lovell - BBC Points West - BBC One (West)

Scoop of the Year

Woolwich AttackITN for ITV News

“This year’s winner was not just a single scoop, but an outstanding series of scoops. From the first day, when ITN broadcast the shocking pictures of the murderer of Lee Rigby filmed by a bystander on a mobile phone, the team were ahead of the pack. The jury commended what was clearly the product of intelligent editorial leadership as well as strong reporting.”

Nominees

Dispatches - Plebgate InvestigationBlakeway for Channel 4 News

Attack on a Syrian SchoolBBC News/Panorama for BBC One

Specialist Journalist of the Year

Michael Crick - Channel 4 News ITN for Channel 4 News

“His reputation over the years as a determined pursuer of a good story has won him many admirers - and a few enemies. But this year with his scoops on the Plebgate story - getting hold of the CCTV footage and then tracking down the eye witness who turned out to be nothing of the kind - has made it a truly outstanding year for this year's winner.”

Nominees

Jeremy Bowen - BBC News

Lucy Manning - ITV NewsITN for ITV

News Television Journalist of the Year

Jeremy Bowen - BBC News

“[Jeremy] is among the best known foreign correspondents on British TV and the judges called his entry a "masterclass in TV journalism." Even when injured by shotgun pellets he continued to report the events around him. What particularly impressed the judges was his ability to provide context and analysis from within fastmoving events on the ground.”

Nominees

Bill Neely - ITV NewsITN for ITV News

Mark Stone Sky News

The Independent Award

“Powerful, strong and original, this was a meticulously crafted film. By investigating the police version of events which led to the resignation of Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell, the winner exposed a major cover-up. Going against the tide of popular opinion they challenged the actions of one of the UK’s most popular newspapers, the police and the Cabinet Office, the ramifications of which are still playing out.”

Nominees

GulnazTiger Nest Films for Channel 4 News

The Agony of AleppoMettelsiefen Productions for Channel 4 News

Young Talent of the Year

Peter SmithSTV News

“An interview with the former chief executive of the troubled Rangers Football Club made this an outstanding entry. The winner's dogged refusal to be deflected or deterred marked him out as the winner of this year's Young Talent Award.”

Nominees

Catrin NyeBBC News

Tom RaynerSky News

Judges’ Award - Deborah Turness

“This Award goes to a uniquely talented journalist who has shattered more than one glass ceiling and doesn’t take no for an answer.

Who is she? Well from the very start this woman was set for the top. And that's where she got to, winning awards and the admiration of her colleagues along the way.

It was this success that meant the big news executives across the Atlantic set their sights on her, highlighting not just their respect for her, but also in the high standards set by her news organisation and the British TV news industry.”

Lifetime Achievement Award - Peter Taylor OBE

Our Lifetime Achievement winner’s first job in television was as a researcher on Thames TV's This Week programme. In 1972, by now a reporter, he was sent to Derry in the wake of Bloody Sunday. It was the start of a long love affair with Ireland, and over the years he won the trust of all sides with his honest, scrupulously fair and deeply insightful programmes. He was particularly pleased with the film he made in the Maze in 1990 featuring the Long Kesh Loyalist prisoners marching band, as well as the series Provos, Loyalists and Brits at the end of the nineties; and when the Troubles were over, the Secret Peacemaker, which told the story for the first time of the British Government's secret negotiations with the IRA.

But our winner’s work goes far beyond Northern Ireland. Not content with angering Ian Paisley, he set about upsetting the South Africans. With Panorama in the 1980s, he was the first reporter to cover the ANC's operations in exile, an assignment which saw him sent on his own to film the ANC guerrillas training in the bush. His narrow escape in South Lebanon, is remembered to this day by a commemorative teapot from his producer, which Peter takes with him on the road.

In addition to unpicking some of the key historical events of our time in programmes like The Brighton Bomb, SAS Embassy Siege and The Age of Terror, since 9/11, he has chronicled and analysed the rise of Islamic terrorism with three series on Al Qaeda, and numerous programmes dealing with the threat in Britain, including Generation Jihad and most recently the Panorama on Woolwich.

Our winner has also devoted much of his career, both at ITV and the BBC, including his first Panorama in 1980, to investigating the tobacco industry.

But no summary of his targets would be complete without mentioning the Intelligence community, which has provided him with many scoops and in The Spies Who Fooled the World, on the tenth anniversary of the Iraq war, he revealed how the intelligence that our politicians used to justify the invasion, was no more than a hoax.

The Royal Television Society is Britain’s leading forum for television and related media. Membership is open to everyone with an interest in the medium. The RTS was granted its Royal title in 1966 and HRH The Prince of Wales became Patron of the Society in 1997.

The RTS brings together people to exchange ideas, debate and explore key issues. The RTS Awards are an internationally recognised hallmark for quality and originality.

For over 80 years, the RTS has provided the UK’s main platform for debate about the future of television. Its lectures, events and publications make a substantial contribution to raising standards and developing practice. The RTS organises dinners with influential speakers, lectures, monthly sessions on current issues, and the world famous biennial Cambridge Convention sets the agenda for the future.

Television, the leading UK monthly on television issues and broadcasting policy, is distributed free to members. Separate RTS Awards events cover Programme Making, Television Journalism, Craft and Design, Students and Innovation.

Many of the Society’s dinners and conventions are oversubscribed. Patron and individual membership entitles members to priority applications and advanced booking.

There are 13 regional centres in the UK, and a Republic of Ireland Centre located in Dublin. Each Centre provides a mix of programme, technical, and craft events.

The Society is an educational charity, embracing all aspects of television, including the creative community, broadcasting, equipment manufacture, professional consultancy, journalism, design, research and development, cable, satellite, video and interactivity.

The Society relies for its future on the contributions of individual members, corporate Patrons and the hard work of its volunteers. Individual membership is available from £65.00 per year.